Garland condo murder suspect to witness who alerted police: 'You're not gonna tell on me, bestie'
GARLAND, Texas - A North Texas man says he went to a friend's apartment to pick up a spare key and ended up stumbling upon a brutal killing.
Two people are now facing capital murder charges in the stabbing death of 53-year-old Johnny Ross Jr. in his Garland home.
The man who alerted police had gone to a condo to pick up a spare key. He didn't realize he'd walked into a crime scene.
Upon discovering the body, the witness described a bizarre scene including drugs and ice cream.
Jaylen Gray says his former friends, Haley Barber and Leo Moore, are "cold-heart people."
Barber and Moore, both 20 years old, are charged with capital murder after Gray turned them in to Garland police.
"I know everybody’s scared to go to police, scared to be called a rat or a snitch," he said.
According to an arrest affidavit, Barber and Moore were temporarily living with Ross in his condo when they stabbed the 53-year-old in his neck while he was asleep so they could steal his money and cars.
Gray bought a Corvette from Barber before knowing the owner was murdered. Gray says Barber told him the Corvette belonged to her "grandfather who passed away."
"She said, ‘Gone. Afterlife,’" Gray recalled.
Gray met Barber at the condo to get a spare key for the car.
According to an arrest warrant, Gray smelled something foul. After asking Barber about it, he told police that Barber casually showed Ross’s body, which was wrapped in a rug and sheets in a closet.
"She was like, ‘I know you’re not going to tell on me, bestie,’" Gray said.
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According to an arrest affidavit, Leo Moore stabbed Johnny Ross Jr. while he was sleeping on the couch and then stabbed him again after he was found alive hours later.
Gray told police that Barber was doing drugs inside the condo. Police say they found remnants of drugs.
"I seen Haley Barber sniffing a white powdery substance off the dresser," he recalled. "She was sniffing it right as I walked in the room, like already sniffing it."
Gray says after Barber showed him the body, she offered him ice cream.
"I said, ‘Nah, I’m good. I don't want it,'" Gray recalled. "I had to keep my composure. It was kinda hard."
After Gray left, he interviewed with police, and Barber and Moore were arrested following a vehicle pursuit.
According to an arrest affidavit, both of them admitted to the murder plot, saying Moore is the one who stabbed Ross. But after realizing he was still alive in the condo nearly 10 hours later, the affidavit says the duo decided to "finish him off."
The body was only discovered several days after the killing.
Ring camera footage shows Barber and Moore going in and out of the condo.
Gray says he never suspected his friends could be alleged killers. And given their suspected drug use, he did not know if they would turn on him.
"Would they, you know, stab me?" he wondered.
Barber and Moore are in Dallas County jail with bonds set at $1 million each.